Monday, April 9, 2012

Final: I'm Becoming A Lot of Someones

This is me on my worst day of my depression.


I was diagnosed with mild depression my sophomore year of college and until this semester I was making a lot of progress and considered myself "depression free". I then got married and the stress of life and many other unplanned factors crushed down on me and brought out my depression. 
I started out this project wanting to show what having depression looks and feels like since for most of the semester I have been extremely depressed. 
BUT...
Within the last month I have gotten a lot better. At the beginning of this semester I was broken but my story has changed as each one of these people have touched my life in some way. 
I decided to photograph these people in a specific place where they have helped and changed my life.  


This is my mother Paula. I have never had much of a wonderful relationship with my mom but it's here in the kitchen that she has talked with me and told me how I can be happier and be a better wife.  She gave me service and how to give service.

This is my sister Gayle. I have tried to use creativity to get my mind off my depression and as a creative outlet. There are times when I feel blocked and just don't want to but she has taken me out and pushed me. After, we go home and we talk at her computer about life. She has taught me the power of being more creative.


This is my dad Scott. My dad has always been a great example to me of faith. This picture was taken out by our shed where he gave me a father's blessing. He gave me greater faith.

This is my niece Lauren. I have had the opportunity to babysit my nieces and nephews. She more than any of them has always asked me to come out and play with her when she can tell I'm feeling down or negative. She has taught me to live like a kid sometimes.

My best friend Shelby has the personality that makes you smile. We go on walks or go running together and she is always willing to talk to me without judgement. She taught me greater understanding and love.

This is my friend Angela. She is just warm and sweet and she comes over or we go to a playground  and we jam out with our Ukuleles. She taught me the love of musical healing.

This is my nephew Jacob.  Other than my husband this kid has my heart and does more for me than his 3 year old self can even comprehend. He has saved me from losing it a million times. He is so full of kid like humor and innocence. He sometimes seem to not have a care in the world which is refreshing to experience.  He has taught me to just enjoy life like a child.

This is my husband Nathan. He has been everything for me through all of this and is the bravest and greatest example of working through things. He has MS and at times things are hard for him physically but he still goes out and plays soccer and does so hard. At times he doesn't understand why God gave such an active person a disease that stops that but he keeps his faith. He has taught me about strength, bravery, perseverance, and to love life more.

In the last 3 months I have learned more about myself. I always thought that to become like someone was to lose your identity but in this case it has helped me find mine. This picture shows how I feel these days: peace, comfort, and clean. This picture is a picture of the eight people who have been there for me because each of them have become a part of me. I'm becoming a lot of someones and I'm perfectly fine with that. All these people have taught me how to smile again.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Assignment #7 Diptychs

I had a lot of ideas for this project and they didn't quite turn out how I wanted them to but I actually really liked this idea.  It kind of describes BYU in an abstract way. This is the classified board in the basement of the Wilk and specifically it's the housing board. It is pretty much filled with "I am getting married and need to sell my contract".... I just find it interesting about the kind of culture we live in here at BYU.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Assignment #6 B&W Potraits

This is Megan and she was a little girl I met after watching my husband play soccer. She is very much a diva and was fun to talk to. 


This is my younger sister Aimee who is super shy and struggles with being the center of attention and so I wanted to get her smiling cause that's how I see her but with her head down as how she portrays herself to the rest of the world.

This is my sister who absolutely hates her picture taken and is a photographer herself and so has about 3 pictures of herself. She wanted to have her camera in the picture but I didn't want that.

This is Greg. He is my brother-in-law and one of the coolest people I know and has the coolest job ever!

This is my grandma and she is the most amazing woman I have ever had the experience of knowing. She has lost and gained so much in this life and has endured some of the hardest things with a smile on her face. 


Thursday, March 8, 2012

Assignment #5 Color Portraits




This is my best friend.

This is me being a total nerd surrounded by books...which I most definitely am not and do not like. Books give me anxiety. At least when it comes to science and math.


This project was actually kind of hard for me at least when it came to taking my own picture. I have no problem taking portraits of people I know or don't know because I feel very comfortable behind the camera. I think I do a pretty good job of making others feel comfortable when in front of the camera but when it's me I have a really hard time! I struggled for a long time deciding on what I even wanted to do let alone when I actually had to do it!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Assignment #4 Color Theory

Analogous

 Complementary 

 Complementary

Complementary

Complementary


I really enjoyed this project and being able to set up different objects and mix colors. I think what I found was that it was a lot easier to find complementary colors than analogous and monochromatic. I also seemed to kind of get confused by monochromatic and analogous.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Assignment #3 High and Low Key

High Key





Low Key




"Correct Exposures"




This assignment really helped me use my white balance better and really try hard to find a good exposure. I am also learning that if I want what I think is a right exposure I have to go a little brighter than what is considered to be "correct". 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Assignment #2 Numbers

99

8

3

2

42

7

6

This assignment kind of bugged me but it really got me thinking... we are afraid to fail. At least I am. It was physically hard for me to not snap more than one picture of whatever I was taking. For me I figured out that I am afraid to fail; I don't want to take a bad photograph (stupid I know). By the end I got more used to it but the fear of failure really started to bug me. We are taught to be perfect and that idea sucked for this assignment.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Assignment #1 Scavenger Hunt/Lightroom

Before Lightroom:

After Lightroom:

Look Crappy:

Before Lightroom:

After Lightroom

Look Crappy:

Before Lightroom:

After Lightroom:

Look Crappy:

I learned that you have to have at least a decent picture to be truly effective in Lightroom. You really can't turn turd into a beautiful photograph. I also learned that with just a few simple things done in Lightroom you can make a photograph look even better. 

With the first picture I really realized that I need to pull out my tripod more because a tripod really helps and without it it's really hard to get a super crisp picture.